Free Tallchief for Keeps by Cait London Page A

her.”
    Alek snorted. The raw hunger prowlinghis body wasn’t easily denied. The sound should have deterred Talia, but she plunged on. “I’ve got experience with that look. Sybil agrees. Both Duncan and Calum had quite recognizable “ugh, me man’ looks and flames in their eyes when they decided they wanted us. Both of them just swooped, and you’ve got that same look. Take my advice, Alek…Elspeth isn’t the kind of woman who appreciates a swooper-taker.”
    Talia rounded on Alek, her long, straight blond hair flaring out to catch the sunlight. “Junior, you’re tired and you need someone to share your life and diversify your focus. You keep pouncing on Elspeth, trying to corner her at every family gathering, and she’ll take you down.”
    “Stop calling me Junior—Will she?” The prospect fascinated Alek; he wanted Elspeth out of her shadows. If he was right, the contract in Denver would make a distinct change in their relationship.
    “She’s just as tough as herbrothers. They had to be, carrying more than teenagers should to survive. Pride and steel has been bred into them for generations.”
    Talia placed her hand on his shoulder, her blue eyes concerned. “Alek, I won’t have you toying with Elspeth. She’s too rare and she’s been wounded, though we don’t know from what. Sybil agrees. We haven’t told her brothers. They’re old-fashioned about a woman’s honor and very protective of family. Emily at fifteen is having an awful time with the Tallchief males, but no more than Fiona and Elspeth had as girls.”
    Talia touched his scarred cheek, her blue eyes soft upon him. “Move carefully, Alek. Elspeth’s isn’t the only wounded heart around. You’ve been needing an anchor for years. Just to look at you makes my heart ache. Until you look at Elspeth, and then I think…I think there just might be hope, because if there’s anything you like, it’s a challenge. The Tallchiefs aren’t an easy game, but worth every minute of it.”
    “Elspeth is too quiet.” He’ddone that to Elspeth, put the walls up.
    “She’s very controlled, like Calum in a way. He doesn’t share himself easily, even now with me. We’re j working on that. Elspeth doesn’t share with anyone, j not the things that are deep in her heart. I’ve often j wondered what would happen if Elspeth decided she j wanted to claim a man as her brothers have claimed loves. She just could be explosive, Alek.”
    “Am I supposed to be scared?” Alek had a quick flash of Elspeth, aroused and ready to fight him. He liked the image, savored it.
    “A normal man would be. Petrovna males sometimes lack…shall we say delicacy and fear of an enraged woman?”
    That night, Alek stepped back from the flames soaring against the night sky. Despite his hours gearing up at the newspaper, teaching and writing articles, Alek was restless, his emotions taut. The discarded boards and rubble ignited, matching the primitive need that had grown within Alek throughout the day. The flames reminded him of his wife crying out for help, her clothes burning—that was a distant nightmare.
    The firelight illuminated a tall, strong pine tree, the top swaying in the night wind. His night with Elspeth vibrated through him, the heat of their bodies, the pagan way he had claimed her, the pounding of hearts and of bodies flying through passion.
    Alek inhaled sharply and rubbed Elspeth’s earring. Primitive…pagan…alive…happy—that was how he’d felt that night. As though nothing could keep him from…from having his woman.
    He tossed a board on the flames and scowled as it ignited.
    Two hours later, the fire had burned itself down to coals. Familiar now with Elspeth’s daily schedule, Alek glanced at her home. A slender, curved body passed into the night, heading toward the fields. “Well, well. Things are looking up, Elspeth-mine,” Alek murmured. Edges, he thought, all those nice little interesting edges to keep things from getting boring.
    On a